Art is a Form of Expression

Number 1A by Jackson Pollock, 1948

I like this painting. I’m not sure what it is or what it is supposed to represent, but I like it.

Not… that anybody really has any concern for what I like…. But anyway, it’s nice.

The layers are very interesting, and I can almost see an image (or several) in the background, but it is difficult to tell if that’s just my imagination or not, which greatly adds to the interest of the piece because when somebody does something like this, you expect there to be some sort of reason behind what they did, or some kind of hidden message behind it.

Most people have a natural aversion to things that lack order, but the interesting thing about this painting is that it is pretty famous despite its chaotic appearance. Why is it famous? Not entirely sure. But, since I like the layers, I am going to assume that that is among the reasons why other people like it as well.

So, as far as I can tell, there are several layers of drawings (well, paintings), different textures, paint layers, and several different colors thrown into the mix to add contrast. Best of all, they all fit together to make a piece that grabs peoples’ attention without throwing off the balance.

As far as what I see… I kind of see a fantasy-like battle scene, or at least its aftermath, in a city of sorts. To be honest, yo can’t really see the city part, or where they are at all, but if you look at it long enough you might be able to see the healer/medic/girl near the center (the little red dot a bit up and to the right is on her hat and she is kneeling on the ground) and there are several bodies around her (one in the bottom right is a person in the fetal position (curled up)) and that is about all that I think I can see somewhat clearly.

Here’s Nancy Sullivan’s response to the painting:

Number 1 by Jackson Pollock (1948)

No name but a number.
Trickles and valleys of paint
Devise this maze
Into a game of Monopoly
Without any bank. Into
A linoleum on the floor
In a dream. Into
Murals inside of the mind.
No similes here. Nothing
But paint. Such purity
Taxes the poem that speaks
Still of something in a place
Or at a time.
How to realize his question
Let alone his answer?

As I expected, the views of others are probably completely different, but hey~! I think it just reflects my tastes. I must admit… if I had to choose just one genre to read, I would pick fantasy every single time.

Anyway, her version was similar to my battlefield, except it is of the mind. In a way, it seems like scifi, but then again, I might not be reading it right….

I feel that she is saying that the painting is the internal struggle to find oneself. She demonstrates this by speaking of mazes and the game, Monopoly, where you go around and around in circles as you try to find your way out. But, there’s no meaning to it, as it’s just paint, which demonstrates that the search does not truly have a purpose. After all, if the reason for the journey is unknown, you can’t really find the answer.

Aaannnd… I ended up paraphrasing some of her poem. Oh well, I think most of you should have gotten what I meant.

Sorry for lack of pictures and until next time!

Grass Ties

Ophelia (1894)

So, while searching for images inspired by Hamlet, I came across this painting of Ophelia by John William Waterhouse.

Apparently, it is not his only painting of Ophelia, as he has, at the very least, two others. One made in 1889 and the other in 1910.

Ophelia (1889)

Ophelia (1910)

There is a third that is called Gather Ye Rosebuds, which may or may not be a study of Ophelia as well.

Gather Ye Rosebuds or Ophelia (a study) (1908)

I will be mostly speaking about the first painting in this post, but I thought it was interesting that he had so many different interpretations. (My source for the above was Wikipedia 😉 )

So, this painting (see right to refresh your memory 🙂 ) appears to depict Ophelia before her death, described by the words:

There is a willow grows askant the brook

That shows his hoar leaves in the glassy stream:

Therewith fantastic garlands did she make

Of crowflowers, nettles, daisies, and long purples,

I know that the quote kind of cuts off… but, I thought this excerpt best fit the image that Waterhouse depicted in his painting. Although, cornflowers, daisies, and nettles seem to be what most of her garlands are made of. I really don’t see any long purples.

long purples

nettles

crowflower?

Okay, to be honest I’m not entirely sure which flower is supposed to be a crowflower, but I think that the picture I found is the safest bet, so I went with it.

I left out a picture of a daisy since they are a pretty common symbol/image/flower used nowadays in pretty much everything you can think of. (Example: typical bouquets/gift baskets, as a cute/girly image for marketing products, etc.)

The exact medium of this painting is oil on canvas, and I believe it is held in a private collection at present, but my sources (the Internet, all-powerful and all-knowing) could be wrong (I didn’t check to see when the information was last updated).

I read somewhere on the World Wide Web that his three paintings of Ophelia represent the events leading up to her death (her youth, when she was in love, and when she went insane), so that might point towards why each painting seems to be an almost completely different interpretation of Ophelia and what she is supposed to be like.

Anyway, I like Waterhouse’s depictions of Ophelia because he emphasizes her close relationship to nature and flowers, making her a much more interesting character than if you just read the play without analyzing it (which makes her seem much more bland). In fact, I didn’t quite realize her connection with nature until after I saw all three of these paintings together.

Also, you know how Hamlet’s famous “to be or not to be” speech is supposed to be about him contemplating suicide? Well, looking at this painting one way, it almost seems like Ophelia is going through the same thing with her aloofness and separation from the rest of the world. Looking at it another way, it might seem like Ophelia’s eventual fate (if you believe she committed suicide) was because of a loss of her will to live after her father was killed by Hamlet, who was supposed to love her and whom she may or may not have loved. And her aloofness in the painting is not caused by her contemplating her demise, but about her contemplating her love for Hamlet, or even her following through with her brother and fathers’ requests for her to stay away from him.

If you do not believe she committed suicide, but rather fell into the water by accident during her madness, this scene explains why she would have been there in the first place: because it was a favorite place of hers to rest and maybe enjoy the scenery, to be at peace. Maybe it even calmed her down to be there. (See? Nature.)

If you do not believe she committed suicide and do not believe she was really crazy, this scene could depict her moments before she died and it may have been that she was pushed in to the water (murdered) by Horatio (who was sent to watch her by Claudius) or even Claudius himself because they viewed her as a hindrance. They may even have knocked her over the head first, which would explain why, if she was not truly insane, she was unable to save herself before she drowned.

Another option is that her food was poisoned, which led to her falling into the water. After all, I’m sure all of us who have read Hamlet are very aware of Claudius’ love for poisons. Claudius may even have foreseen that it would enrage Laertes (her brother) further, and took steps to ensure that Ophelia would not survive long after her father’s death.

I say all this, but it’s all pure speculation. Since Ophelia’s death is not explicitly explained in the play, all of these are equally possible in my mind, and there are even more possibilities that I have left unexplored. In the end, it all comes down to which scenario you choose to believe.